Monday, August 25, 2014

Revisiting perfection





A few leftover notes from Matt Sergey's nine-inning perfect game Sunday against Gateway:

* Sergey threw 100 pitches. He had not thrown more than 68 pitches in a game since Aug. 21 of last year, when he made a start for Gateway (yes, Gateway) against the Wild Things at Consol Energy Park. Washington won that game 7-1.

* It was the 24th no-hitter in Frontier League history, and the fifth this season (Windy City's Travis Tingle has thrown a five-inning and a seven inning no-hitter), but the first perfect game in the league's 22-year history.

* It was the first no-hitter thrown at Consol Energy Park in a Frontier League game. No pitcher had even come as close as three outs from a no-hitter.

* Gateway pitching coach Randy Martz, who spent four years in the major leagues and has a been a long-time coach, said it was the first perfect game he had witnessed at any level of baseball, "including Little League." Washington pitching coach Kevin Gryboski has seen three perfect games. He was with the Braves when Randy Johnson threw a perfect game for Arizona in Atlanta, and was a teammate of John Halama in Class AAA, when he threw one in the minor leagues.

* Washington catcher Jim Vahalik said he a conversation recently with his father, who asked him if he had ever caught a no-hitter. When Jim said that he had not, father said he had that over his son. He caught one in back in his youth league days. So, after Sergey's perfect game, the younger Vahalik called his father and said, "I guess I have one on you now."

* Sergey said three balls concerned him when they left the bat. One was a ball Ben Waldrip hit in the second inning that was caught by right fielder Jose Dore on the warning track. The other two were hit by second baseman Tommy Richards, and both were caught by left fielder Scott Kalamar on the warning track in left field near the 375-feet sign. One was in the sixth inning and the other was with one out in the ninth.

* Gateway hit four fly balls in the game that were caught on the warning track. No ground balls were hit to Washington third baseman Carter Bell.

* Sergey had a three-ball count on only four batters, including twice against Madison Beaird. Sergey retired him on a popout and flyout. The last three-ball count came against Michael Johnson, who struck out in the seventh inning.

* It was the first time in Gateway's 14 seasons that the Grizzlies were no-hit.

* The game was the last called by Adam Young after four seasons as Gateway's broadcaster. He begins a television/radio job for New Mexico State later this week. It don't know if that's called going out with a bang or a dud.

* The Washington win moved the Wild Things to 5 1/2 games ahead of Gateway for the final wild-card playoff spot. The Grizzlies are currently the first team out of the playoffs with 11 days remaining in the regular season. The Grizzlies still have the schedule helping them, as they play the Greys three times, host the Wild Things for three games over the weekend and end the season with three games at Joliet (34-53).

* After Sunday's game, Gateway manager Phil Warren ripped into his team for its performance against the Wild Things.

"We're lacking serious grit and heart in the clubhouse," Warren said. "That performance was unacceptable to this office and the handful of guys who haven't checked out on the season. We still want to have something to show for all the hard work we did in the first half of the year. ...

"The bottom line is you get what you deserve. Any manager will tell you that luck is a good thing to have, but we haven't had any in the second half of the season. We just haven't played winning baseball in the second half. If somebody watched this series and knew that both teams were in the playoff race, then they would have expected to see more confidence and a better vibe from Gateway. Unfortunately, we have some guys who have checked out for the season."

* I wonder how many people in the ballpark, at game's end, were aware that Sergey's performance was a perfect game and not just a no-hitter?

14 Comments:

Anonymous Jeff said...

I didn't realize it until the 7th inning. The guy two seats over from me was keeping a scorecard and I had to ask if the Grizzlies had any base runners yet. A few persons around me were delighted to see the no-hitter and ecstatic to learn it was a perfect game. A great thrill to have witnessed.

August 25, 2014 at 2:35 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Congratulations Matt!!! I started noticing what was going on after the 4th... was a nervous wreck for him, but so proud!! Great game!

August 25, 2014 at 2:35 PM  
Anonymous Jeff said...

Chris, did you hear anything about Ryan Kresky getting hurt (broken nose?) during the post game pile-on celebration?

August 25, 2014 at 7:02 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

It's interesting that a guy pitches a perfect game Sunday and 7 of the 10 comments posted on this blog Monday and today have been about a baseball team in another state. Shows you how stupid Wild Things "fans" have become.

August 26, 2014 at 7:42 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

It's interesting that a guy pitches a perfect game Sunday and 7 of the 10 comments posted on this blog Monday and today have been about a baseball team in another state. Shows you how stupid Wild Things "fans" have become.

Thanks Steve, Stu make you do this too????

August 26, 2014 at 2:33 PM  
Anonymous Michael said...

The Wild Things have Playoff tickets on sale. I didn't know they were comedians

August 26, 2014 at 4:45 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

yeah why would a team sell playoff tickets when they are in first with a week left and have basically gauranteed themselves a playoff spot

August 27, 2014 at 11:42 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Anonymous said...
It's interesting that a guy pitches a perfect game Sunday and 7 of the 10 comments posted on this blog Monday and today have been about a baseball team in another state. Shows you how stupid Wild Things "fans" have become.

Maybe it shows how stupid you are. Everybody is wrong, or stupid, except you, right? How can all the fans that don't show up be wrong? They are smart enough not to waste their time and money at a place where they are treated like crap. I'd call that pretty darn smart, not stupid.
I'll bet you are the fan that thinks Gryboski is a good guy, too.

August 27, 2014 at 1:55 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I don't think anybody who attended the games Friday and Sunday (maybe Saturday too) went home disappointed or feeling like they were treated like crap. Sunday was "perfect"

Notice how the so-called "Wild Things fans" on this blog never discuss baseball?

August 27, 2014 at 2:52 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

We would love to discuss baseball....when baseball people run the team. Not some lawyer with a play toy for his kids and a Asst. GM that doesn't know a baseball from a bowling ball. Was that Steve again???

August 28, 2014 at 10:01 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Wild Things fans don't talk baseball or about their team because to do those you actually have to go to the games. Judging by the attendance, Wild Things fans don't go to the games. You can't discuss what you don't see. Can't wait for that team to move. The league will be better without Washington. Soon Washington will have an empty stadium to go with all the empty buildings and run-down houses.

August 28, 2014 at 3:43 PM  
Anonymous Host Mom said...

Jeff,

Ryan Kresky went to the ER after the game and was seen by an ENT doc the next morning (the bus waited for him. His nose was not broken, he has a septal fracture.

August 30, 2014 at 1:44 PM  
Anonymous Jeff said...

Thanks for that info Host Mom - -

August 31, 2014 at 8:31 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Couldn't help but realize the failure of the WT staff to capitalize on this outstanding achievement. Instead of simply reporting the history and using the fan support and buzz surrounding the moment to promote the team and Matt Sergey, the staff decided to include #WeDemBoyz. Good work on using this stage to increase the promotion of a rapper and his song instead of the tremendous effort on the field by the home team and it's star. Have you ever searched #WeDemBoyz on twitter? Some of the stuff you find is not quite "family-friendly entertainment," and it certainly does not make you think of the Wild Things baseball brand.

Just an overall poor effort on using the high visibility and increased web traffic of the first perfect game in Frontier League history to connect the brand to the eyes of potential new fans.

Every decision this team makes is consistently awful.

September 2, 2014 at 8:47 AM  

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